Instant Analysis of Redskins' 26-24 win over 49ers

The pervading question as the Washington Redskins hosted the San Francisco 49ers in Week 6 was: could this be a trap game? With the 49ers winless and the Redskins favored by 10-11 points, it was a distinct possibility.

While it didn’t end up being one, it most certainly could have been and a lot went on in this game.

The Redskins, receiving the opening kickoff, moved the ball well early on.

Coach Jay Gruden, who had maintained Chris Thompson would remain his primary third-down/receiving back, called more plays for him than in any game so far. Thompson ended up the leading pass-catcher and used various ways.

The Florida product ran the ball between the tackles, caught passes out of the backfield and ran around the outside. San Francisco paid for several blitzes.

Despite Thompson’s performance, there were times when the offense couldn’t get things right. For instance, twice in the second quarter Cousins overthrew his tight ends.

Ultimately Washington was productive enough to score a TD in the first quarter and then a TD and FG in the second.

The Redskins defense held the 49ers scoreless until the end of the second quarter and was tight and aggressive despite its injuries.

Former Washington wide receiver Pierre Garçon, who many were afraid would come in and run rampant, was largely a non-factor until late in the first half.

It was with five minutes left in the second quarter that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan replaced veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer with rookie C.J. Beathard. This kid has a cannon of an arm and, in his second series, he gave San Francisco’s offense life; throwing three passes over 10 yards and a TD.

The Redskins went into the locker room at halftime, 17-7.

The 49ers came out rolling in the second half and gashed the Redskins defense before Washington OLB Ryan Kerrigan got a sack.

His timing was perfect because the next play was a nicely defended pass by Redskins cornerback Kendall Fuller, and the 49ers were forced to kick a FG.

Unfortunately, Beathard moved the ball with ease in the second half while Cousins did not. In fact, in the third quarter, the 49ers scored 10 points and the Redskins scored none. The 49ers tied the score, 17-17.

It was imperative that Cousins get something going in the fourth quarter and he finally did with WR Ryan Grant who caught more than one key pass for first downs.

The Redskins finally scored another field goal with seven minutes left in the game to put the score at 20-17 and, after the defense held the 49ers to a non-scoring drive, Cousins took the offense down the field on a nine-play drive and scored himself on a seven-yard run.

Unfortunately, kicker Dustin Hopkins didn’t make the extra point which meant it was only a nine-point game (26-17).

The 49ers scored again on the very next drive, bringing the score to 26-24 which meant that San Francisco could win with a field goal.

But San Francisco attempted an onside kick and Redskins rookie CB Fabian Moreau recovered on it the SF 46-yard-line.

The Redskins did not score after getting the ball back and had to punt.

It looked like Beathard was going to pull out the win when the rookie moved his offense down the field, recording three first downs.

But Garçon pulled a pass interference penalty on a completed pass to San Francisco’s 40-yard-line and it became second-and-20.

Two subsequent incomplete passes then put the 49ers at third-and-20.

Shanahan must have thought, ‘What the heck? We’ll lose if we don’t have the ball anyway…’ because he decided to go for it on fourth-and-20.

With nine seconds left in the game, Beathard threw the ball deep to the right sideline which Kendall Fuller intercepted.

He was pushed out of bounds and Cousins and the offense came out onto the field and took the coveted Victory Formation.

From the beginning of the second half, this game was touch-and-go and it stayed that way until the very end.

The Redskins defense got sacks, stuffed runs and had interceptions and the offense had long runs and long pass completions; but neither could maintain momentum.

Backup players like CB Quinton Dunbar, Moreau and safety Stefan McClure stepped up and were instrumental, especially Dunbar who defended several passes in the game.

Cousins was 25-of-37 for 330 yards with two TDs and one INT. He rushed four times for 18 yards and a TD.

Thompson caught four passes for 105 yards (the leading receiver in the game) and ran the ball 16 times for 33 yards (longest was 11). RB Samaje Perine ran nine times for 23 yards (longest was eight).

Second-year defensive lineman M. Ioannidis logged 1.5 sacks (he has come a long way since his rookie year). OLB Ryan Kerrigan had one sack while Preston Smith shared a sack with Ioannidis.

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